Open-Source Bug Base Is Hackers DIY Dream Come True: First Look

It looks like nothing more than a stack of digital Legos—microprocessor, memory storage, USB port, camera sensor, a snap-off LCD screen and Wi-Fi adapter. But by providing the building blocks for users to create their own gadget, this otherwise generic portable device might just become the ultimate supergadget. Smaller than a paperback book (and closer to the size of two iPhones back-to-back), the Bug Base should level the playing field for custom-tailored DIY hardware development when it hits hackers by year's end—no more electrical engineering and soldering skills required, just a basic understanding of programming code such as Java.

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With more than 80 different modules in the works—GPS and accelerometer add-ons will be among the first to ship, with a touch-sensitive LCD, mini keyboard and speaker system to follow early next year—New York's Bug Labs wants to take the open-source software mash-up (think Google Maps meets Flickr) to hardware. Geeks on the go could clip together the camera, GPS and Wi-Fi modules for a photo-mapping-blogging tool, or attach motion-­sensing and speaker functionality to the base for a DIY home-automation system. Businesses small and large could tap into Bug's long-tail approach, too, whether it's real-estate brokers giving prospective buyers a hand-held tracker for nearby homes, or hospitals reminding patients when to take their medicine. Each new module that a user snaps on can instantly tell the base its identity and how to interface with it, setting off instant open-source communication.

Some of these unique devices might only be popular with 200 people, others with 20,000. But the bottom-up development should chop down the barriers of entry for creating these products, compared to the high cost of manufacturing just one of them through a Sony or an Apple. "We like to call it community electronics instead of consumer electronics," Bug Labs founder and CEO Peter Semmelhack says. Soon to begin beta testing with hackers and programmers, the Bug Base will ship later this year at a cost in "the high hundreds of dollars," he says. But additional modules will be sold on the Web in bundles or a la carte, and, in typical open-source fashion, users eventually will even be able to make suggestions and vote on what comes out next. —Wayne Ma